Some of you may now that I'm currently ghostwriting a book for a man who wnats to put his thoughts about a certain area of knowledge out there. As he is a journalist, and has worked for more than a decade in that beat, it's only natural that he does so. There might be quite a lot of people interested in what he has to say, besides his reporting, lectures and media appearances. So far, so good.

What's the problem then? The problem is that as soon as I actually sat down with him to talk about all the things he has to say... I discovered he doesn't really have much to say. What appears as expertise on screen seems to be largely a mass of unoriginal opinions, sometimes with little basis in fact. Now I'm tasked with writing a 120ish-page book from what should amount to maybe 40.

This is my first "pure" ghostwriting job, and I won't turn it down (even if it wasn't already too late for that). So, I've taken up the task of researching the field he appears to know so much about, to give his opinions a solid foundation. It's not a pleasurable task because I tend to think differently about these matters, but that comes with the territory.

I suspect that many ghostwriters face the same problems, and I'd like to know what they do when they realize they don't actually have enough material for a book, but they must write one. But I know very few ghostwriters and none of those are my friends.

Live and learn, I guess. I might already have the next job lined up, and this time it seems like it will be more pleasant, since the book would be more like a memoir, and the subject is obviously an authority in herself.

You're going to have to get creative about content. Include anecdontes and stories, photographs (full page ones) and info on how they got started, that sort of thing.

Yea, now is the time to become a master at research and let him read it bit by bit. This may just begin to jog his memory and he may fill in the gaps. By the way, where do you get your ghostwriting jobs?

Thanks for your suggestions. Yeah, it's a good idea to go in search of the personal angle once the basic topics are covered (which they are, more or less). In our next encounter I'll begin fishing.

I don't have any say in the composition of the book itself, so the photographs are outside of my purview, but I'll try to illustrate as many points as I can with anecdotes and experiences. Also, tables and graphs. That I can include.

This is my first proper ghostwriting job and it came to me because the subject is a friend of a friend. The other one, which is not confirmed yet (let's cross our fingers), came up by word of mouth. In general I'd say that word of mouth is the winning strategy in ghostwriting, since it's the only way people know the work is yours.

You should show him famous autobiographies with pictures, they REALLY sell books. Two I can think of are Angelas Ashes (Frank McCourt) and Don't Let Her See Me Cry (Helen Barnacle). Both are stunning books in themselves.

In addition to this there are storybooks that are famous because of their pictures. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs) is probably the most expensive eBook I've bought to date (It was $9.98 when I bought it) and it was worth every second.

Maybe that can convince him. I am certain that the latest in Autobiographies also include photographs. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates ones would. Band ones. Other journalists do too they have pictures of themselves taking pictures and working hard and investigating.

You know what? I'm going to apply all your suggestions. This is a first experience and you two are helping me build it. Even though, as I said, I'll have no bearing on the publishing and composition of the book itself, I can provoke his enthusiasm with a mental image of what it could look like, and that, in turn, could put him in the mood to share different kinds of experiences, not only his abstract thoughts.

Of course, I've just googleimaged (?) Rigg's book, and it looks like an amazing object. I don't think all the pictures belong to the book, but I can more or less see how it feels. Maybe I'll just pony up the dollas.

He has two out now and the first one has a bunch of pictures in the middle. I dunno why they do that stuff in the middle, must be a publishing thing.

Anyway YES! If you can get them excited about an idea or even just plant the seed in their head they might grow it without realising!

Yes, the "photos in the middle" thing is due to the fact that photos are generally printed in glossy paper, and because of the way books are manufactured, you can't have a glossy fold intertwined with common paper folds in a bunch ("bunch" is certainly not the technical term, but you get the idea). So, all photos are pushed into the middle of the book in their own bunch.

Why not at the start or end, you say? I don't know. I've seen at least one book where all the photos were at the end (Mark Z Danielewski's wonderful "House of Leaves"), but that's because those were the appendices, so they had to be at the end.

I feel like it breaks the book up and I lose my focus, so I don't like them there....but thank you!! You explained the mystery perfectly!

A ghostwriter has to be more than just a writer. You have to be able to ask the right questions and draw the information out of the subject. Ask open-ended questions and either record it or take good notes while you talk. Chances are you should be having several conversations like this, actually. Most people have plenty to say but they don't know what to say so they say little. Part of the job is getting them to open up with all the stuff they don't realize is so interesting to the reader.

That's good advice. I've been a journalist for twenty years now, but I still doubt I'm any good to ask questions. It's a complicated art.